hey, i've gone through this a couple times. You need to go to the pet store and get either a syringe or an eye dropper. if you get the baby bottle make the hole a little bigger in the nipple. Get the powder formula. little one has to be fed every couple hrs. You need to wipe his/her privates and bum with a damp warm facecloth to promote peeing and poops. keep him warm. Right now he's not gonna be really active but make him a bed in a fairly deep box,as he will quite quickly be able to crawl out.

actually just noticed your from brampton, there is a wildlife rescue up around you. Give them a call, lasttime i did this they wouldn't take them til the eyes open but they can give you further advice.

thanks for the advice,went to pet store and bought the necessary stuff,checked for dehydration and no problems there but will not do its washroom business just wants to curl up and sleep put a heating pad in its box with enough room to move around if it gets to hot.

Don’ts
Don’t try to feed the squirrel.
Don’t handle him more than you have to.
No loud voices, TV, music, or bright lights.
No children or pets in the same room!

1. Warm the Baby (never feed a cold squirrel!)

Quick Methods:
-Cup the baby in your hands or under your shirt next to your skin.
-Fill a plastic bottle with very warm water. Wrap in a cloth, place next to baby, and cover him. Reheat every 2 hours.
-“Rice Buddy”: Fill a sock with 1 cup of rice or dried beans and microwave for 30 seconds. Place next to baby and cover him. Reheat every 2 hours.

2. Find a Box or Container
A shoebox will do for small babies. A baby that can walk will need a larger box with a lid (with holes). Put a clean baby blanket, flannel shirt, or piece of fleece in the bottom of the box. No towels or terrycloth. Squirrels can get tangled in the loops. Place baby on the material and cover him with one flap. If you have a heating pad, turn it on low and place it under half of the box (not IN the box!) so baby can move away if he gets too warm. You can use the plastic bottle or rice buddy described above, but these are only temporary methods until you get a heating pad, since they must be reheated every 2 hours and won't keep baby warm all night.
NOTE: Monitor his temperature so he doesn’t chill or overheat. His feet should feel warm to the touch.

If the baby is injured, is having trouble breathing, has fly eggs on his fur, or is very skinny or dehydrated, he needs emergency care by an experienced rehabber or vet.

3. Rehydrate the Baby

Most babies are dehydrated when you find them and must be rehydrated before you can feed them. Never feed formula or food of any kind to a dehydrated baby!

Check for Dehydration
Pinch the skin on the back of his neck. If it doesn’t spring back immediately, the baby is dehydrated. If the pinched skin stays up like a tent for more than a second, the baby is badly dehydrated. Other signs of dehydration: pale grayish gums, dry mouth, sunken eyes, whites around eyes showing, rough spiky fur, dry scaly skin.
NOTE: If baby is badly dehydrated, he will need subcutaneous fluids, which can only be given by a rehabber or vet.

Supplies You Will Need:
--Heating pad without auto shut-off (if you don’t already have one)
--Pedialyte (any flavor)*
--Plastic syringes (1 cc size; no needles. Ask the pharmacist to get these for you) An eyedropper can also work.
These are available at most drugstores. You can also order supplies from Chris’ Squirrels and More. (http://www.squirrelsandmore.com)

How to Prepare the Pedialyte
Use a plastic syringe (with or without a nipple). Never use pet nursers or doll bottles. They will choke the baby. Fill a coffee mug with hot water. Fill the syringe with Pedialyte and place it in the mug for a couple of minutes. Squirt a drop on the inside of your wrist to make sure the liquid isn’t too hot. It should feel barely warm on your skin.

Proper Position
A tiny baby can be held in your hand. A baby with fur can lie on a flat surface on his stomach. A baby that can walk can be held upright or he can drink sitting up. Hold the syringe so the tip points UP to the baby’s mouth and the handle is down. Don’t let the baby get cold. Keep him wrapped up while he eats.

How to Feed Fluids
Place the syringe tip on the baby’s lips (from the side) and squeeze out one drop for him to taste. Don’t squirt a steady stream. Let him swallow one drop before squeezing more. GO SLOW! It sometimes takes a feeding or two for them to catch on. Hairless babies are fed drop by drop. With older babies (once they catch on) you can squeeze slowly for one second, wait for him to swallow, then squeeze more.

If fluids dribble out his mouth or come out his nose, you are going too fast. Stop and tilt the baby’s head down so the fluid drains out (support his head and neck like you would a human baby). Then wipe his nose and mouth with a tissue. Start over, slower. NOTE: There is now a chance your baby will develop aspiration pneumonia from inhaling fluid in his lungs. This is fatal. Please contact a rehabber or vet, or the people at The Squirrel Board, for assistance.

How Much Fluid to Feed
Give 1/2 to 1 cc every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. Then give it every 2 hours around the clock. Do not feed Pedialyte for more than 24 hours. It is not a subsitute for formula. Refrigerate Pedialyte after opening. Throw away any open bottles after 3 days.

Check the baby every few hours using the “pinch test” described above. As baby rehydrates, he should “perk up” and become more active. Rehydrate all babies for at least 2 hours before feeding formula or food of any kind. Severely dehydrated babies should be rehydrated for 24 hours before feeding.
Note: If your baby will not take any fluids, he must go to a rehabber immediately or he will die.

Potty Time
A baby that is not fully furred will need help to pee and poo. Normally, the squirrel’s mother will lick the baby’s belly and bottom to stimulate him to go. Before and after feeding, use a warm, damp kleenex, cotton ball, or soft cloth to gently tickle the baby’s genital area. Do this until baby goes. NOTE: A dehydrated baby may not pee or poo until he has had several feedings of Pedialyte.

thanks everyone the little guy or girl opened its eyes today had to feed it pedealite for 2 days and started it on formula today,my pitty missy gave the little one a bath which i thought was unusual because she never had a litter of her own,but all in all everything working out great,will post pics soon as this little one is a bit bigger

Great news!
Missy getting attached to her/him is a good thing,her mothersinstincts are kicking in.
Missy probably knows this little creature needs comforting
I'd love to see a bigger pic of Missy,she looks great in your Avatar.

woohoo glad to hear the little one has his eyes open and is eating, how is the coaxing to get him to do business. Neither of the ones we rescued had a problem, i'd pee to if someone kept rubbing my privates with a warm washcloth.lol.

hi there, I rehab squirrels every year, you have to take it to a shelter, you cannot properly raise/rehab a single squirrel, they have to have at least one other nest mate in order to do " squirrel" things, a lone squirrel raised will never be able to be released into the wild. You have to make sure you stimulate it to do it's pee/poop because its little system will back up and poison the squirrel, death comes quickly. In ontario it is illegal to rehab a squirrel unless you are licenced, or a foster(for a rescue) . It is also very illegal to keep one as a pet and if taken from you by the ministry it will be put down. Please consider calling a rescue. That is the best chance you could give it.

As for raising a squirrel and releasing it back to the wild, we did. My sister found a tiny baby squirrel when she was out jogging (back in early 80's) and brought it home. We immediately took it to our vet for formula and advice. Once old enough we would let it out in our back yard during the day, our viscous hunter cat would actually not permit it to leave our yard, lol. Eventually Theodore, started climbing trees and would wonder farther and farther, until he didn't come in at night. He did return to our yard to collect nuts and we watched him until we moved a couple of years later. We could ID him because he had a very unique tail.

Melinda,a friend of mine did too,with a Squirrel I found in my yard.
When he was old enough,she slowly introduced him to the outside and he eventually stayed outside by his own choice.
Still would visit ever now and then.
Someone I know also raised a Raccoon-baby successfully after his siblings had been killed,yes it's illegal,but sometimes you have to follow your heart and do what you feel is right.

yes, it can be released, but because it does not have the "way" of squirrels, or how to interact with its own species, it's at a higher risk, and it's very doubtful it will be accepted at breeding time. The best way to release is exactly how someone (forget who said it here) said it, slowly, takes over a month to release properly back into the wild, cage outside, door locked, door opened during the warm parts of the day closed at night....cage left open and left outside and slowly put less and less food in it...then when the squirrel finds it's mate and stops returning to sleep remove the cage completely

please call, I'm sure they will even come and pick it up, they will raise it properly so it can be release into the wild.

i'm not sure if this is the same place we went to. They don't usually come to pick up and they wouldn't take our little guys until the eyes are fully open. no idea why. Once your little one is raised to be areal squirrel they will release him into the area he came from.

if you really are intent on raising it yourself, and I don't blame you, it's a wonderful experience, my first two were less than 24 hours old (cord still attached) when we raised them, mind you, I didn't know if I was raising field rats, moles or squirrels, turned out to be red squirrels, a tiny breed, anyways, your best bet would be to call a rescue to see if they have another "single" that you could raise with it, two are no trouble if you already are feeding one. we had no digital camera's back when I first started rehabbing, but here is a grainy pic of them 3 days after we found them. sorry about the bad quality.
notice the eyes are not opened and no fur, mother was moving them from the birthing nest to the nursery nest when she was killed by a neighbours cat, we found her a few days later..

this is the same two , 6 weeks later, living quite happily in my late iguana's cage, they had a huge tree branch to climb, a nest and the floor is heated.it was 6 feet high, 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep, you need a large space for them

a squirrel builds two nests, one to give birth in, less than 24 hours after birthing, she will take each baby, one at a time and lay them at the base of the second nest tree, if she has 4 babies she makes 4 trips, once they are all at the bottom of the tree she will then proceed to take one at a time up to the nursery nest, it could be an hour between babies, or longer, the nests are within a 1/2 mile radius, so many people at this point see the baby(s) and think them abandoned. If you ever see this, please, don't touch them, if you are worried about them, stake out a place where you can sit for an hour or so and watch for the mom, we'd put these two in a cardboard "nest" nailed to the base of the tree with field grass for warmth to wait for the mom to return, when she didn't in 4 hours we took them in to "flush" them out with pedialite that you make for wild critters. (gets off of my soapbox, lesson/lecture over) sorry..its just that we get so many orphans this time of year. and so few foster homes, I've raised skunks, groundhogs, various birds and turtles......all released back into the wild.

yeah i've done the foster homes too, racoons, squirels and one skunk. He ended up named oreo. To the day we moved he still came right up to us for popcorn. We got the pleasure of meeting his mrs. and 4 litters of babies. He'd walk right into the garage if i was in there and just stand there. Scared me a couple times. It's an amazing experience but it's something you have to be serious about doing.

Melinda,you very obviously know what you are talking about,thank you..
I'ts just,I have a problem with the Wild Life people,a few years back,any wild baby they picked up had to be euthanized.:sad:
That was the reason a member here brought up the orphan Raccoon,she did not want the surviving baby-coon to be killed.
I seem to remember it was on an order from The Ministry of Natural Resources:sad:maybe that rule does not apply any more

a squirrel builds two nests, one to give birth in, less than 24 hours after birthing, she will take each baby, one at a time and lay them at the base of the second nest tree, if she has 4 babies she makes 4 trips, once they are all at the bottom of the tree she will then proceed to take one at a time up to the nursery nest, it could be an hour between babies, or longer, the nests are within a 1/2 mile radius, so many people at this point see the baby(s) and think them abandoned. If you ever see this, please, don't touch them, if you are worried about them, stake out a place where you can sit for an hour or so and watch for the mom, we'd put these two in a cardboard "nest" nailed to the base of the tree with field grass for warmth to wait for the mom to return, when she didn't in 4 hours we took them in to "flush" them out with pedialite that you make for wild critters. (gets off of my soapbox, lesson/lecture over) sorry..its just that we get so many orphans this time of year. and so few foster homes, I've raised skunks, groundhogs, various birds and turtles......all released back into the wild.

Thank you for letting us know. I live in a rural, wooded area with a lot of squirrels and would rescue a baby if I saw it by a tree. I now know to just leave it alone.

Melinda,you very obviously know what you are talking about,thank you..
I'ts just,I have a problem with the Wild Life people,a few years back,any wild baby they picked up had to be euthanized.:sad:
That was the reason a member here brought up the orphan Raccoon,she did not want the surviving baby-coon to be killed.
I seem to remember it was on an order from The Ministry of Natural Resources:sad:maybe that rule does not apply any more

you remember correctly Chico, all the foster homes "on record" were "visited" and raccoons, fox, skunks, you name it, were taken and euthanized. The ministry said it was all a health concern because of rabies, rubish!!!! They shut down our main rescue in Ottawa we were stationed behind the nortel building, Donna Dubrie (spelling?) headed the rescue, and mentored many of us. That is why we no longer call the ministry about orphans, the main threat of rabies has diminished over the past few years and rescues are popping up all over again, and actually have partial funding by the government.

Marko,I agree,I learn something every day here and also that there are so many great animal-lovers out there

Melinda,I did not know if it was appropriate to say so,but I have no great respect for the MONR,out of all the animals they killed that year,99,9 % were perfectly healthy.:sad:
Then the year after,they decided to kill hundreds if not thousands of Cormorants,it was open season on these birds,anyone with a gun could kill them
Here is a picture of one of our members little rescue,he lived in the barn,once he was fully grown he was free to go exploring and learn to get his own food and eventually said his good-byes.

I remember all that well Chico, the hardest critter to rehab is the raccoon , and only because of the attachment you form, they stay with their moms for almost a full year, very needy critters, we've also rehabbed (very hard) critters that fools think will make wonderful pets....grrrrrrrr *L*, daughter and I get laughed at because we actually save a few seagulls every year, people think its a waste of money and time....not a bit as far as we are concerned. anyways, I'm sorry to have hijacked this thread.

How is the squirrel doing?? feeding alright? do you remember to wipe its mouth/fur clean after each feeding so bacteria doesn't form, they tend to lick while sleeping and any left over formula goes bad really fast on their face.

Hey everyone.
I just found or I should say a baby squirrel found me. Now this one follows me where ever I go out side. It will climb my leg and sleep in my coat pokets.
All it wants is to be cuddled. I have it living in a box outside under my back door stairs. Not sure how old it is but he is the legth of your hand not including tail. He can situp and eat bread with his frount paws and drink water out of a bowl. Any sugestions on how to continue or advice would be great.

well it shouldn't be sleeping in a box...that seems odd, the box should be placed in a tree, if you can get a bird house, enlarge the hole and let it sleep there, cut out the bread, put out fruits and nuts, you can get squirrel food (block food like dog kibble) at pet feed stores. That would be best if you feel it should eat, but I'd leave it be and let it go back to nature, as long as you continue feeding it it won't learn to be a real "squirrel".